Delaware a "liberal" state? I do not really think so. For example, it has a very pro-business corporation code. It limits the liability of, and sometimes immunizes, the directors of the corporation from their own wrongdoing, and, comparatively speaking, provides shareholders with little to no protection, all of which is the typical Republican business regulation model.
From the perspective of constitutional law, moreover, there was, for many years, serious doubt that the Eighth Amendment was even applicable to the state. Those who favored whipping were also against civil rights, believing that whipping was essential to control the "colored" population that might be passing through the State of Delaware.